Although there are plenty of players capable of rising above a bad matchup, terms like “Revis Island” would not exist if it wasn’t at least somewhat true. Take T.Y. Hilton, for instance. After the loss of Reggie Wayne, Hilton has been an incredible asset for fantasy owners, but put him up against the Titans’ defense and suddenly he’s scoring less than 5 fantasy points. He should have a slightly easier time against Arizona this weekend, but I mean it when I say slightly. Cecil Shortsis a talented guy and he only managed 22 yards against Arizona last Sunday so start Hilton if you need him, but don’t expect WR1 production.

Speaking of Tennessee’s defense, they travel to Oakland this week and that makes the Raiders’ WRs unplayable. Rod Streater had a great outing this past weekend and Denarius Moore has been pretty consistent this weekend, but there are much better options this week.

Another consistent WR this year has been Antonio Brown, but this is definitely the week to sell high on him. Brown is still worth starting in many leagues. He hasn’t scored below six fantasy points in standard scoring leagues yet this season. However, Joe Haden is a special talent. If you were to rattle off a few receivers more talented than Antonio Brown, A.J. Green might be one of the people you list and Green was held to two catches for seven yards with Haden as his shadow. You never want to bench your best guys, but depending on your available options, you will want to consider it with Brown this week.

As for running backs, Ray Rice is someone you should consider selling high on as well. Rice had a nice game against Chicago in an otherwise messy outing, but don’t let that fool you into thinking he’s suddenly a RB1 again. Against an excellent Jets run defense, the Ravens will likely turn to the air for the majority of their production which leaves Rice hoping for a goal-line carry that may never come.

The same is true for Chris Ivoryin that game. Ivory has been phenomenal in his previous two games, but the Baltimore defense is not an easy one to run on. They’ll do what they can to establish the run early, but as soon as Baltimore’s on the board, don’t be surprised if Ivory’s role diminishes substantially this Sunday.

The good news is there are plenty of great matchups this week. Ben Tate against Jacksonville, Zac Stacy against Chicago, Eddie Lacy against Minnesota, Andre Brown against Dallas, and Rashad Jennings against Tennessee should all produce excellent numbers this week worthy of RB1 status. Even Chris Ogbonnaya should have a pretty solid game assuming he’s your Flex play. Meanwhile, Vincent Jackson, Kendall Wright, Torrey Smith, and Dwayne Bowe are all in perfect situations for fantasy success this week and should be started in almost all leagues.

Quarterbacks and tight ends are always a little more difficult to judge based on matchups, but with a game against New Orleans on a short week, I would sit Matt Ryanthis week unless you’re in a 2 QB league. If you’re looking for a plug in for him, both Case Keenumand Alex Smithare better plays. Even Scott Tolzien is worth a look over Ryan. Tolzien may have struggled against the Giants, but New York’s defense has been a lot better recently. Certainly better than Minnesota’s defense.

For tight ends, Coby Fleeneris the biggest story this week. After career highs in catches and yards last week, Fleener now plays the worst defense in the league when it comes to tight ends. A lot of that stat has to do with games against Jimmy Graham and Vernon Davis, but Fleener’s a hot hand and deserves to be started in most leagues this week.

My sleeper pick of the week? Marlon Brown. He warmed up prior to Sunday’s game in Chicago, but didn’t end up playing and a lot of that may have been because of the weather. With a game against the Jets who managed to make Marquise Goodwin and T.J. Graham look good this past weekend, expect big things from Brownthis week.

Hi!
I can’t bench Marshall and V-Jax,but in the WR3 spot I have Wallace,Ginn and i picked in this moment your sleeper Brown. Who could be the best for you? I think Ginn ’cause we count return yds,but i’m intrigued by Brown.
RB question: apart the untouchable Murray, i have T-Rich(i’m hating this guy),Donald Brown,Ellington and Jordan Todman(the same of Ginn,he returns). Who is your choice?
Thanks for all and good luck!

@Sky: I think Ellington is guna have a big week, did you see what Chris Johnson did to the Colts D last week? Ellington IMO is a much better RB than CJ?K and is due for a big game. Eventually Arians is guna realize that force feeding Mendenhall touches at 1 yard a clip is not the way to win a football game, and their passing offense isn’t going to be as good as it was last week hardly ever and it’s very inconsistent. So eventually they’re guna have to rely on the running game and I think that starts this week. ROLL WITH ELLINGTON!

@Dave: No way roll with Brown, Haden is great but Brown is a different kind of WR than AJ Green, and The Berg is a better QB than Andy Dalton. I think Allen is hurt and the passing game could struggle for them this week against KC, and Boykin would be my next choice if you’re really not trying to play Brown.

Need a bye qb replacement since I have foles and cutler. Glennon, Palmer, Fitzpatrick, Tolzien? How would you order them and I am wondering if I should consider their rest of season value as part if pickup priority.

For my Rbs I have Stacy, woodhead, Ridley , and vereen. It’s a .5 ppr league. Was thinking definitely Stacy and leaning vereen for rb2 as of now. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

@Gbbb: This week, I would rank them Palmer, Glennon, Tolzien, Fitzpatrick. I wouldn’t worry about ROS with Foles on your team. Their schedule is pretty favorable for QBs the rest of the year. In a .5 PPR league, I think you’re making the right call with Stacy and Vereen.

I’ve been much trouble with WRs this season. I’m in a Yahoo, 10 team, standard points league. I have the following options for my 2 WRs this week:
Already on roster – Amendola, Welker, T. Williams, Boldin, & K. Wright
Free Agent – Stills
Who should I start? Should I drop one of them to stream Stills this week?

In my PPR, I have Reed and Gonzalez. Picked up Walker on waivers just in-case neither were able to go, although it looks like Tony will play. Do I ride Tony on the Thursday game, or wait until Sunday to see if the status on Reed is updated, and worst case scenario, I can use Walker if Reed is out? (TL;DR – Reed or Gonzalez in a PPR, assuming both healthy)

Also, you’re recommending to sit Matt Ryan, but my only other QB to start is Rivers. That league scoring is bigger on completions and passing yards than TDs. Would you still sit Ryan, or hope he’ll get enough garbage time passing to make up for it?

@Velocity_X: I would definitely start Gonzalez this week and like @Aubrey Plaza’s Pillow suggested, I would consider dropping Rivers at this point for a better third option. I’d start Ryan over Rivers, but both have terrible matchups this week and there are a lot of decent QBs in the free agent market in most leagues.

I have Wilson at QB so I dropped Baldwin and for Ben this week and added NO DEF in place of Cincy because I have to win this week. Would you drop Lamar miller for Marlon? I rather start him than shorts and plan on streaming 2 WR after Wilson and Cinn by weeks.

@Matthew: I would absolutely start Shorts over Marlon this week. I think your team is in a good situation right now. Miller is definitely your most dropable player at this point, but if Thomas were to go down, his value would shoot up exponentially. I’d stick with your team as is right now.

@Justin: I agree with @Aubrey Plaza’s Pillow. Rainey and Ridley are your top 2 options this week. Keenan Allen is definitely a possible sit if you have better options available to you, but that all depends on your team.

Got CJ/Rainey as RB1&2
Demaryius/Hilton WR1&2 and
Boldin in flex (think he’s gona have a day monday)
Got Ingram/Ellington on bench which makes me nervous because i think ellington is due and ATL D is trash… Thoughts?
If Julius Thomas Can’t go its slim pickins for me Brandon Myers/Cumberland/Mychal Rivera
Big Week for me hanging on to the 6th seed. HELP PLEASE

@Tkamercia: I think you’re making all the right calls this week. Myers would probably be my pick at TE if Orange Julius can’t go, but keep an eye on Thomas’ status the rest of the week and start him with confidence if he practices Friday.

@MrWright: I always like to have someone playing in the Monday game, but Thursday is tough just because everyone’s playing on a short week so you never know. I’d lean Woodhead over White personally, but White certainly has potential and if it makes the game tonight more exciting for you, that was my original reason for playing Fantasy Football.

@RD: It doesn’t really sound like you’re hurting at WR unless you have to start 3 (since DeSean’s on bye). With the RBs you have though, trading one away doesn’t seem like a bad idea. I’d say if you can get Nelson for Moreno, go for it. I’d prefer to trade CJ if I were you.

Hey, I posted on last weeks article, and I wanted to thank you for last week’s advice. I never fully take anyone’s advice and more use others’ opinions to test out the waters, so everyone told me to bench Rice in favor of Bernard last week (including you), but I went with my gut and made a last minute switch to Rice, and ended up getting lucky. However, playing Torrey Smith instead of Josh Gordon ended up losing me my match up. Don’t get me wrong, I’m obviously not blaming anyone, Smith was the smart call because Gordon is boom or bust, but he’s been a lot more boom than bust lately, so I guess if I was being risky enough to go with Rice, I should have had the stones to go with Gordon.
Anyway, that being said, lot of tough calls this week, and my fantasy buddies have been significantly less than useful, so just fishing for a little extra advice. Both leagues are ppr.
League 1: Bernard on a bye, and I obviously have no reason to trust Rice against the Jets, but my only other option is Vereen with a limited workload. Do I go with Vereen? And, I’m once again put in the position of Gordon against a tough Steelers secondary or Smith against the Jets. Or, if I’m feeling really risky, I could roll Roddy White out. My other starter at RB is Peterson and WR is Marshall.
League 2: Starting Forte and Stacy at RB, obviously, and Calvin at WR (even with his knee on Revis Island, I can’t see sitting him). My other options for WR and a flex are Antonio Brown against Joe Haden, Wes Welker potentially not playing with a concussion, Colston, Le’Veon Bell, or, if I really hate my team, T-Rich. Any suggestions?

@Aaron: I would definitely start Rice over Vereen this week because of the matchup. I also think the Patriots will use Vereen a little more this week than last week. I also still rank Gordon slightly above Smith, but that’s a coin flip.

I Have survived this year with my receivers. I have rode Demarius Thomas, Antonio Brown and Alshon Jeffrey(inserted him after Reggie Wayne got hurt. Have Romo at QB but my running backs are brutal. Fred Jackson (benched Spillar) and Danny Woodhead. Steven Jackson has not been in my lineup yet.

I have been offered Demarco Murray, Pierre Garcon and Jarret Boykin for Demarius Thomas. What do you think about me taking this trade? Thanks

@Randy Struck: I would say that it depends on your record. If you are in shape to make the playoffs now, I wouldn’t screw with it. That being said, in my ppr leagues, both Garcon and Thomas are top ten WR’s and Thomas has been known to disappear a little when there is a lot of coverage on him, so it’s not a terrible trade considering you still have another top ten WR. So if you need to get into the playoffs, I’d do it, but if your team is a shoe-in for the playoffs, I’m not sure I would.

PPR League. I’m starting Keenum over RG3 this week (6 pt QB TDs). Agreed?
At RB I’m starting AP and Forte
AT WR I’m rolling with Dez and Hilton
At Flex I am torn between Antonio Brown and Vereen. I am terrified of Joe Haden, and I think Vereen at least matches his targets from last week, added bonus if he gets some carries. Thoughts?